Mutual Legal Assistance and Letters Rogatory

A request that is well drafted in the requesting state can still fail in Türkiye — not on the merits, but because it asked for something the Turkish system cannot give in that form, or because a statutory time limit expired while it was in transit. Most of what determines the outcome is settled before the request leaves the requesting state.

Requests do not pass directly between courts. The Ministry of Justice acts as Central Authority and decides whether a request is accepted, what form of cooperation applies and what procedure is followed; conditions it accepts bind the Turkish authorities that execute the request. Where there is no treaty, cooperation rests on reciprocity.

Three points account for many avoidable failures. A request for search or seizure is subject to a threshold the rest of the regime does not apply — the offence must be one for which extradition would be available. Where a particular procedure is needed for the material to be usable in the requesting forum, it will generally be accommodated if it is not contrary to Turkish law and is requested; adding it later is not legally impossible, but ordinarily requires a supplementary or replacement request and bureaucratic delay. And where provisional measures have been taken in Türkiye in advance of a formal incoming request, they are lifted if the request does not reach the Central Authority within forty days — short, once translation, certification and transmission are accounted for.

Material obtained through assistance may not be used outside the investigation for which it was supplied without the sending state’s consent, subject to defined exceptions. Counsel considering whether Turkish material can be deployed elsewhere should start there, because the restriction attaches to the material rather than to the party holding it. Incoming requests, outgoing Turkish requests and transfer of proceedings are distinct routes. Video-link assistance additionally requires an applicable agreement binding both states; reciprocity alone is insufficient. Mutual legal assistance with Türkiye: what to build into the request covers those routes separately.

The work on a request

• Advising on the form and content of a request before it is sent

• Monitoring an outgoing request and identifying where it has stopped

• Acting for a person or company affected by an incoming request in Türkiye

• Managing the annual confirmation required where assets have been seized on a foreign request

• Advising on the use restriction attaching to material obtained through assistance

• Transfer of an investigation or prosecution, and its consequences for a pending Turkish file

For foreign counsel. The most useful point of contact is before the request is drafted. A short discussion of what is sought, on what offence and for what forum will usually identify the threshold and the procedural specification that need to be built in.

For further information, see Insights.